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Have you ever heard of the nervous system?
Yes.
No.
Well, every body has one.
Your nervous system is responsible for communicating all kinds of information from your brain.
I got a message from the brain!
To all the other cells in your body, like your muscles, glands, and nerve cells.
Cells within your nervous system that transmit information to other cells are called neurons.
My friend Ron here, who you may have heard running around behind me, is one of the hardest working neurons in your body.
Hello!
Your nervous system is the center of all mental activity, allowing you to absorb, remember and utilize information.
It's getting a little hot in here.
I'll tell him to turn up the A.C.
Along with your hormones, your nervous system also helps you maintain homeostasis, which is a fancy way of saying a comfortable body temperature.
Basically, your nervous system keeps you connected to the environment, both internally inside you and externally around you.
But how exactly does your nervous system work?
Why is it so important?
And how can you keep it healthy?
Look out!
Look out!
Look out!
Ow!
Oh, that's got to hurt.
Yeah, I just stubbed my toe.
Ow!
Well, I'll pass the message to your muscles to sit.
Thanks, Ron.
It's time for another whiff of science on... Who's Smarted?
Who's Smarted?
Who's Smart?
Is it you?
Is it me?
Is it science?
Or history?
Luckily, that was a pretty minor toe stub, but it still smarted.
And not the good smarted.
Without my nervous system communicating so well, I might not have been able to process all that information or execute a plan to sit down and nurse my hurt toe.
Besides Ron, that's me, your brain alone has approximately 86 billion neurons.
And the neurons in your brain are complex.
Why, thank you.
I mean, seriously complex.
Researchers are continuously working to effectively classify the huge variety of neurons that exist in your brain.
Some neurons are involved in sensory processing, like the ones in your visual cortex that send signals to your brain about what your eyes are seeing, so your brain can figure out what it is.
Is that a triceratops running across a lake?
Other neurons in your auditory cortex share information about what you're hearing.
In fact, it often takes a combination of clues from what you're hearing and seeing to figure out what you're really looking at.
Oh, it's just an opera singer wearing a horn helmet on a jet ski.
Some of the neurons in your brain, like the ones in your motor cortex and cerebellum, help process motor functions.
This lets me wave to the opera singer.
Bravo!
But the neurons in your brain aren't doing all the work alone.
There's a highly effective game of telephone happening between neurons throughout your body, passing on information.
This rapid communication network usually works really well.
But we're not flawless.
Why is a T-Rex chasing that opera singer?
Oh, wait, that's just a bunch of water skiers standing on each other's shoulders.
My bad.
Other neurons involved in the communication include sensory neurons.
Sensory neurons gather information from your five senses.
You do remember your five senses, don't you?
Shout them out, smarty pants.
I heard taste, touch.
Everybody said hearing at the same time.
What about the other two?
Sight and smell.
Hey, did I hear somebody say salty?
Salty's a flavor. but you're on the right track.
Salty would fall under your sense of taste, something your sensory neurons would help you recognize.
I love the ocean, but I hate the taste.
Your sensory neurons are activated by what's known as a stimulus input.
These stimulus inputs, or stimuli, can be either chemical or physical.
Chemical stimuli includes things like tastes or smells.
This helps you notice if something tastes too salty. or smells like freshly baked cookies.
Yum.
Physical stimuli includes things like heat, light, sound, or texture.
These cause you to react if something is too hot, too bright, too loud, or too pointy.
Ooh, look, it's a porcupine.
Remember before I mentioned your motor neurons?
Well, your motor neurons connect to your muscles, glands and organs so you can quickly react to sensory stimuli.
Don't touch that porcupine!
Your motor neurons transmit impulses from your spinal cord to both your skeletal muscles, which are the muscles that help you jump play, sit and dance, and your smooth muscles, which are the muscles you don't have to think about, like the ones that help you breathe, digest food and pee.
Ah!
There are two types of motor neurons upper motor neurons that travel between your brain and spinal cord, and lower motor neurons that travel between your spinal cord and muscles.
Oh boy, this is a lot of information.
I think I'll lie down.
Good idea.
Your upper motor neurons will pass the plan to lie down to your lower motor neurons, which signal your muscles to move your body into a more relaxed position, and your interneurons will pass information between your motor and sensory neurons so you can adjust your comfort level accordingly.
Yeah, it's fancy and pretty complex.
While you lie there, think about any maps you've seen of a subway or a train system.
That's kind of how your nervous system works, as it sends information throughout your body.
If your brain were the central station and all the main lines traveled down your spinal cord, Ah then the local lines and stations would branch off down my arms and legs.
Exactly.
Okay, I can picture it now.
Crazy to think about, but pretty impressive.
Oh, but it gets even more impressive, my friend.
Not only does your nervous system take in information and process that information to form a response, it also categorizes that information into a memory system.
For example, what do you think of when you smell freshly baked cookies?
I think of my grandparents' house.
Because your brain and nervous system remember the cookies that your grandparents bake.
Ah, that's pretty cool.
Now I want cookies.
What's even cooler is, as you form new memories, your neurons create faster communication paths, so stuff you used to have to think about can become almost automatic.
Oh, like memorizing words for a spelling bee.
Exactly. or how to play a song on the piano.
But it's also true for all the little things you never think about, like knowing how to use a spoon, recognizing your friend's face or learning how to walk.
Talk and not drool so much like when you were a baby.
The more you learn, repeat, and memorize, the more your neurons are able to skip the middleman.
Say, your friend Mikey introduced you to his friend Camilla, and now you want to borrow Camilla's skateboard.
It would be much faster and easier to just call Camilla and ask for the skateboard than to have to tell Mikey to pass along the message.
Neuroscientists, which are people who study the brain, are always working to gather new information about how your nervous system works, how to protect it and how to optimize your brain functions.
After all, there's a lot going on in this highly complex system and there's still many mysteries surrounding it.
Whoa.
Everything from brain-related illnesses to behavioral issues, to learning disabilities are all areas that scientists and doctors are constantly studying and learning more about.
Sounds like I want to keep my nervous system healthy.
You sure do.
But how?
That's a great question, and we'll tell you right after this quick break.
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Hey, Trusty here.
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Now back to Who Smarted?
Smarty Pants.
Now that you've learned how important your nervous system is to your daily life, you might be wondering what can you do to keep it healthy and strong?
I know I am.
Ron?
The best way to protect me and all your other neurons is by keeping your whole body healthy.
Ah.
This involves eating healthy food, getting enough exercise, and sleep.
When you exercise, it sends more oxygen to your brain, which your brain loves.
And when you rest, it gives us neurons more time to reorganize and prepare for the busy day ahead.
Oh, and you also want to avoid injuring your brain or spinal cord.
So always wear a helmet when you borrow Camilla's skateboard.
I will.
You can also improve your mental acuity.
That's a fancy word for skill.
By challenging your brain.
Try writing your name with your non-dominant hand.
That's the hand that you don't usually use.
Ooh, that's tricky.
Learn something new, like maybe a new instrument or language.
I am taking ukulele lessons.
Try out some puzzles or play board games with friends.
Here's a brain teaser for you.
What belongs to you, but your friends use it more?
Hmm.
What do you think, smarty pants?
Can you solve this riddle?
What belongs to you, but your friends use it more?
I got it.
My name.
Did you get that one, smarty pants?
Great job if you did.
Despite all this information we know about our nervous systems, there's still so much more we don't know.
Like, how exactly are memories stored and retrieved?
Why does your brain sleep and dream?
Yeah, and why are my dreams so weird?
Last night, I dreamed I had webbed feet like a duck.
What does it mean?
And here's a big one.
What are emotions?
What is their purpose?
I don't know.
And how do they bubble up so fast?
And how do we regulate them?
Yeah, sometimes I get angry.
I don't even know why.
I don't even fully understand that one, and I live here.
In your brain.
The craziest thing is, it's through the work of your complex nervous system that we will one day solve mysteries about our complex nervous system.
Whoa.
Mind blown.
Well, I'm worn out.
I could use a rest.
I think I'm starting to see things.
Um, is that a rhinoceros on Camilla's skateboard?
Big brainy shout out to Colby and Carter in Pacifica, California.
We hear you love listening to Who Smarted Before Bed which, of course, is the smartiest way to end the day.
Thanks for smarting with us, you two smarty pants.
This episode, The Nervous System, was written by Libby Ward and voiced by Brandon Bayliss, Gia Davis and Jerry Colbert.
Technical direction and sound design by Josh Hahn.
Who Smarted is recorded and mixed at the Relic Room Studios.
Our associate producer is Max Kamaskeek.
The theme song is by Brian Suarez with lyrics written and performed by Adam Tex Davis.
Who Smarted was created and produced by Adam Tex Davis and Jerry Colbert.
This is an Atomic Entertainment production.
